Wisconsin Badgers WBB Lost Momentum and Got Run Off the Tracks by Purdue

The Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team came into Sunday’s home showdown with Purdue winners of three of their last four games and looking to make a push for a WNIT bid. Well…things did NOT go as planned and UW got their doors blown off by the Boilermakers.

Here is the full recap:

Wisconsin Badgers WBB Two-Game Win Streak Snapped By Purdue

Final Score

Wisconsin Badgers (13-13 overall, 6-10 Big Ten): 55
Purdue Boilermakers (12-15 overall, 5-11 Big Ten): 79

Four Factors

eFG%: 48.1
Turnover%: 32.4
Off. Rebound%: 39.4
FTA/FGA: 14.8

Key Stats

FG%: 40.7 (22-of-54)
Opp. FG%: 51.8 (29-of-56)
3P%: 36.4 (8-of-22)
Opp. 3P%: 50.0 (7-of-14)
FT%: 37.5 (3-of-8)
Opp. FT%: 87.5 (14-of-16)
Points Per Possession: 0.809
Opponent Points Per Possession: 1.162
Rebounds: 29 (13 offensive)
Opponent Rebounds: 30 (10 offensive)
Turnovers: 22
Forced Turnovers: 15

AND-1 ‼️ @BadgerWBB pic.twitter.com/T3msrPKP6X

— Big Ten Women’s Basketball (@B1Gwbball) February 25, 2024

Team Leaders

• Sania Copeland: three points (1-of-3 FG, 1-of-3 3P), two rebounds, five assists, one steal, -13
• Serah Williams: 11 points (5-of-13 FG, 0-of-1 3P), 10 rebounds (four offensive), three blocks, -21 (13th straight double-double)
• Brooke Schramek: 11 points (4-of-9 FG, 1-of-4 3P), two rebounds, two assists, one steal, -13
• Natalie Leuzinger: 18 points (7-of-10 FG, 4-of-5 3P), four rebounds (two offensive), four assists, -17

Purdue Team Leaders

• Abbey Ellis: 21 points (8-of-13 FG, 1-of-2 3P), four rebounds (three offensive), two assists, two steals, +17
• Jeanae Terry: five points (1-of-3 FG), nine rebounds (two offensive), six assists, five steals, +18

Three-ish Thoughts on the Wisconsin Badgers WBB Loss to the Boilermakers

1. The first quarter sure was exciting and filled with lots of offense and limited defense. Both teams shot over 64% from the field and scored 21 points apiece. The second quarter was the opposite, lots of defense and limited offense, and Purdue went into the half with a three-point lead.

Then, in the third quarter, Natalie Leuzinger banged home a three to tie things up with 8:11 to go and…everything went to hell after that. The Boilermakers went on two separate 9-0 runs in the quarter and Wisconsin went four and a half minutes without scoring at all to end the period (before a late Ronnie Porter three cut the lead to 13). In the fourth quarter, it was more of the same and Purdue ran away with the big road win.

It was a slow and steady blood-letting by the Boilermakers and it couldn’t have been more demoralizing for a surging Wisconsin squad unless the court opened up and swallowed Bucky Badger.

2. A major turning point in this game was with just over two minutes left in the third quarter. Halle Douglass was at the free throw line and she missed her second freebie. Serah Williams went to box out Caitlyn Harper and caught her in the face with an elbow. After going to the video to review it, the refs called it an intentional foul which meant that Purdue received two free throws and the ball.

Abbey Ellis sank both free throws and then Harper, who had just been elbowed, drained a three and Purdue’s lead ballooned from nine to 14 points and, quite frankly, the game probably could’ve just stopped there.

3. Natalie Leuzinger is such a smart secondary playmaker for the Badgers. She dropped four dimes against Purdue and almost always makes the correct read on offense. She also tied her career high in scoring halfway through the third quarter and then broke it later in the game. She scored 18 points (4-of-5 from deep) and has been a real glue player for UW this year.

Career-high for @leuzinger24!!

The senior has 16 points so far! pic.twitter.com/oqHqld23oo

— Wisconsin Women’s Basketball (@BadgerWBB) February 25, 2024

4. Purdue’s press after made baskets gave the Badgers absolute fits on Sunday afternoon. Wisconsin turned it over 22 times and had their fifth worse turnover percentage of the season. The worst part was that these turnovers seemed to come in bunches, giving Purdue multiple chances to go on mini-runs to continue building their lead. Another facet of those mini-runs was poor transition defense by Wisconsin that allowed the Boilermakers to get a bunch of easier layups.

Jeanae Terry, a personal favorite player of mine in the Big Ten, gets her hands on so many passes I wouldn’t be surprised if she was part octopus. She ended the game with five steals, nine rebounds, six assists, and five points and ran PU’s offense and defense perfectly.

Jeanae Terry is a MENACE on defense, sweet heavens

— Badgers Ball Knower (@BadgersBallKnow) February 25, 2024

UW tried to run a little press themselves to get back into the game but it was laughable when compared to Purdue’s. The Boilermakers beat it easily and I think the Badgers just decided to call it off because they were giving up points too quickly.

5. Something weird about this game, when looking at the box score, is that Wisconsin had some categories where they were at or above their season averages. The Badgers were hammering the offensive glass early in the third quarter and did a really good job there throughout the game. Their eFG% was their second highest in a loss all season and better than they shot in five wins too.

However, Wisconsin went on too many scoring droughts, got zero points from their bench, didn’t get to the free throw line nearly enough, and when they did get there…they usually missed! Rough, rough game for UW.

Final Thought

I don’t think that I should have to take ALL of the blame for this loss, however it is worth noting that I missed most of the first quarter but was able to watch the rest of the game. My plus/minus would be AWFUL after this one.

Joking aside, because this is always a very serious recap, this game was a major bummer for the Badgers. The accuracy of NIT bracketology has improved drastically over the years, but it is still far from an exact science. That being said, Omni Rankings had Wisconsin as the last at-large team from the Big Ten to make the Women’s NIT a week ago and a win over Purdue would have almost locked them in for a bid. They updated their projections on Monday, and the Badgers are still projected in the tournament, but Purdue has leapfrogged them and the Badgers have two tough contests (at Maryland; vs. Michigan State) against teams that are jockeying for NCAA Tournament seeding/entry to end the regular season in their bid for a .500 record.

This loss also had major implications for Big Ten Tournament seeding as the Badgers (6-10) are only one game ahead of Purdue and Minnesota (5-11) for the final first round bye. UW would have the tiebreaker over Minnesota, due to their season sweep of the Gophers, but Purdue can say the same thing now if they end up tied with the Badgers.

The Boilermakers and Badgers just don’t matchup well (if you’re Wisconsin, of course) and Wisconsin will be happy to not see Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament, all things being equal. Purdue has beaten UW by 39 and 24 points this year and the Badgers have had two of their worst offensive performances of the season against them and their worst (and fourth worst) defensive performances of the season against them too.

I’ve been watching Wisconsin for three years. This is the most fun I’ve had.

This team is just so scrappy and seems to have finally found an identity.

— Badger WBB HQ (@BadgerWBBHQ) February 25, 2024

Every time Wisconsin has laid an egg (or two) they have been able to bounce back quickly and win a game to keep the train on the tracks. Will they shock the Terps on the road this Thursday? I wouldn’t put it past them, but it will not be easy.

Next Game: Thursday, Feb. 29; at Maryland Terrapins; 5:00 p.m. CT; BTN; Xfinity Center; College Park, Md.

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